Rise Of The New Pantheon
by Miltiades Malachite
Summary: Dark gods from beyond the fabric of the universe are beginning to stir, waking and taking their place among the mortal plane. Their power is growing and their influence spreading. The last thing Qrow wants is for them to obtain a foothold on Remnant, and so he begins to gather a force powerful enough to fight back. Can they really keep the demonic wolves at bay, though?


The storm raged on, ravaging the coastal city in a torrential downpour. Storm warnings were issued, keeping people inside their homes or whatever building they had been in when it started. In most places the street was not only inaccessible, but invisible under the flood of rainwater. Lightning strikes flashed around the city, hitting the tops of some of the buildings in a shower of sparks. Hail mixed with the rain, pelting the roofs and windows that were exposed to nature's wrath. In some of the taller skyscrapers windows had been shattered by falling hailstones, allowing the storm to reach inside the building and do as it wished. To any outsider, the city would look deserted. Not a living creature wandered the streets.

Well... except for one.

A man in a long dark coat waded through the flooded streets, searching for a particular building. The storm didn't bother him. He loved the storm. He had been waiting all his life for this storm, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste. He had a job to do, a duty to keep to, and a destiny to fulfill. Today was the day he had been waiting for. Today was the day they would open the door.

Finding the building he had been searching for, he started searching around at the base of the structure. He found the entrance to a subway sticking out of the water and dove in. The entire subway was submerged, but it didn't bother him. He felt perfectly at home in the water, as it was common practice for his kind to spend most of their lives underwater.

He swam through the flooded subway station, holding his breath. Being good at swimming in no way meant he didn't need oxygen, so he swam quickly. Finding the spot he was looking for, he began to pull at a floor tile in the station. It took a bit of convincing, but once it moved it was easier. Sliding it to the side, he pulled himself down into the dark tunnel beneath him, and closed the concealed entrance behind him.

Reaching forward and grabbing onto rails inside the tunnel, he pulled himself along at amazing speeds. It wasn't long before the tunnel arched upwards, and then he burst into a small air-filled cavern. As he climbed free of the water a small entourage of maidens took his coat from his shoulders and laid it with the rest. It was a large pile. Many had come.

He walked to a small pair of doors at the opposite end of the room and pushed them open. On the other side was a much larger cavern teeming with people, all dressed in black robes. Many, if not all, turned to watch as he stepped through the crowd. He was the one they had all been waiting for. They had been sneaking down here in groups of two or three, and the city above only knew that people were going missing. Most of those missing persons were alive and well, simply dwelling in this cavern and awaiting the day that had finally arrived.

The living spaces in the cavern were sleeping mats covering the floor, though most had now been rolled up to save room. All up and down the walls there were stairs and homes carved into the stone where more people lived and slept. There were thousands of them, though that hadn't entirely accounted for all of the people gone missing from the city above. In fact, there was a very specific number that were missing for a separate reason, though not entirely unrelated.

Making his way through the crowd, he eventually arrived at a large stone alter at the head of the chamber. Laying on the alter, arms bound by the wrists, was a young woman. Her fiery eyes regarded him without a touch of sorrow or fear. She wanted to be here. He walked around the the head of the alter, placing his hands on her shoulders. Her lightly colored hair was spread out in every direction. He had wanted to partake in such a beautiful woman, but it was not his place. He decided it was time to begin, before the drug wore off and she no longer wished to stick around.

"Brothers and sisters, there is no proper speech for this ritual. It is said that all we need do is make the final sacrifice during a storm such as this one. So with the blood of a virgin the one thousand sacrifices before it become holy and sanctified, and thus our lord will come to us and destroy our enemies. Remove her coverings."

Two robed figures from the multitude stepped toward the alter and grabbed the woman's clothing, cutting it off with jagged knives. They were careful not to pierce her reddish skin as they went, as the blood sacrifice had to be perfect. Now naked on the alter before him, she became even more desirable in his eyes. Still he would not falter. Besides, he had something already set aside for himself afterwards.

He raised a long silver knife over his head. "Let him come forth!"

The multitude chanted in return. "Let him come forth!"

He slowly brought the knife down to her throat, then slid its edge along her skin. Her blood flowed out of her throat even as he saw the life disappear from her eyes. The sacrifice was complete. Her blood spread across the alter, staining her turquoise hair and spilling over onto the floor. Another robed figure stepped forward with a jeweled goblet and held it under the dripping blood, then handed it to him once it was full.

He took the goblet and turned to the crowd. "Let the celebration begin!"

He knew of course, what they would do in celebration, but it was none of his concern. He had his own celebratory custom set up for him in his own private chambers. Off to the side of the alter, where the body was left untouched by all, he stepped through a small doorway into a stairwell. At the bottom of the stairs was a wooden door, the only one on any of the dwellings in the underground city. It was his private dwelling that had been carved out and set up for him alone. He had never been to the cavern before so he didn't really know what it looked like, but it didn't matter to him so long as his gifts were there in the room.

When he opened the door he saw a well furnished stone room. There was carpets with red and gold designs covering the floor, handmade wooden shelves decorated with silver, and a large bed covered in a purple blanket. Bolted into the ceiling was a golden chandelier that lit the room well, the separate candles flickering from the slightest disturbance but not diminishing their effect as a whole. It was everything he had imagined it would be.

Last, but not least, were the two girls who lay on the bed. They were perhaps twenty years old at the most, and both had soft pale skin and dark hair. One was dressed in scant pieces of white cloth that draped around her shoulders and hung on her hips, though it didn't hide her breasts. The other lacked any such covering, just lounging on the bed lazily. They watched him enter, their faces completely impassive.

Closing the door behind him, he turned to the girls. He quickly disrobed, and they patiently waited. Then he brought the goblet to them. Selecting the girl who still had cloth hanging from her body, he slowly poured the cup's contents onto her head. She bowed her head, letting the fresh blood drip down her face and onto the carpeted floor. He held the cup out to her and she took it in her hands, standing by as he moved to the bed where the other girl lay in wait.

He crawled across the bed and lowered himself onto her, biting gently at her chin. His hands crawled up her body and squeezed her breasts, squishing them against her body. He reached down to her legs and grabbed her thigh, pulling her up to him. He enjoyed the sounds of pleasure he got from her and was completely focused on the girl under him. His attention was gone from her twin sister, the girl standing in the middle of the room holding the goblet with her head soaked in blood.

He never saw the second sister slide a short blade from its hiding spot under the bed with her foot. She lifted it behind her and plucked it out from between her toes with her hand. Still holding the cup, she stepped forward and held the blade out. He never saw the blade, even after she slashed his jugular vein open with it.

He lurched back, falling off the girl and out of the bed, landing on the floor and writhing in sudden agony. He tried to scream, but all that came out of his mouth was a terrified gurgle. He pressed his hand against the wound, trying to stop the blood from spurting out of his body. The girl with the blade moved in, stabbing at his body, his arms, his legs, his neck, his head. She even sent a well-placed jab at his genitals, severing a large chunk. When she was done she stepped back. He lay on the floor of the room with a look of horror and shock frozen on his face, his blood oozing from a hundred cuts and drenching the carpets.

There came a knock on the door. It was actually five knocks in rapid succession, then two more quick knocks followed by three slower knocks. The girls' deadpan stares turned to each other, then the one with the blade called quietly to the other side of the door.

"Welcome to a world of new solutions." Her voice carried the tune softly and beautifully, a stark contrast to the bloody act she had just committed.

The door opened and a robed figure stepped in carrying two black robes. He handed them the robes and waited for them to get dressed. They offered no complaint due in part to their knowing that he couldn't actually see them because the hood of his robe was pulled down over his eyes. Also in part because they had previously taken a drug that suppressed all the emotions that might give them cause to complain. That said, they wanted those emotions back now. He held out two syringes, waiting for them to finish getting dressed.

They took the syringes and each stuck one into their arm, emptying the fluid into their systems. They pulled out the needles and tossed them aside, then stood waiting until they could feel the effects taking hold. The robed man reached up and pulled his hood back, looking at the two girls as they stood stock still with blank faces.

One of the girls, still holding the blade she had used earlier, shook her head suddenly. She made a face and stuck her tongue out. "Ugh... I'm gonna need a shower."

The other girl suddenly moved, smacking the palm of her hand into her forehead repeatedly as if she was trying to knock some memories clear of her mind. "You? He never even touched you! Why'd you take so long?"

Dropping the blade, she walked over to the robes that the deceased man had shed. She picked them up off the ground and wiped her face with the outside of them, then started drying off her hair while she explained. "I thought our positions were going to be reversed so I sorta forgot what I was supposed to do that you were supposed to do."

Her sister stopped hitting herself and glared at her. "I was supposed to- what made you think our positions would be the other way around?"

"I dunno." She shrugged and dropped the robes onto the ground, letting them join the carpet in soaking in blood. "I guess I figured he'd go after me because I'm prettier."

"You narcissistic little- we're twins!"

"Yeah, so?"

"Identical twins!"

"Girls, girls. We've got a job to finish." They stopped bickering and look up at the man in front of them. A smile formed behind his small beard. "We do still need to get out of here."

They glanced back at each other for a second, then looked back to him and nodded. The self-proclaimed prettier of the two answered for both of them. "Lead the way."

He pulled his hood back over his head, motioning for them to do the same. "Keep yourselves concealed and don't move too fast. They're gonna know what we're trying to do as soon as we close the doors, so they'll be right behind us. They'll probably also be mad that we killed their high priest."

Their faces covered, one of the girls looked over to the other, her mischievous grin hidden. "Hey, Miltia. You sounded like you were having fun."

"Fuck you, Melanie."

The man interrupted them before they could get any farther off track. "Hey, look! Your paycheck is only three hours away!"

The girls eyed each other knowingly. The paycheck they were getting for this job was far greater than anything they'd ever gotten before. The contrast was almost ridiculous. It was why they were willing to go through everything they had, though their actual plan had involved killing the high priest before he got as far as he did. Melanie figured Miltia would let it go eventually, especially if the pay was split unevenly in Miltia's favor. There had been a time when they pooled their earnings, but they had grown a lot since then and their individual interests were no longer as identical as they were.

The three walked out of the room slowly and quietly. The man closed the door behind them, then led the twins through the cavern. They all tried their best not to look at the sight around them, but an orgy of thousands is notoriously hard to ignore. The cavern echoed loudly with all the sounds Melanie wanted less and less to be hearing. Miltia had to mentally slap herself multiple times to keep from watching the goings on around her. They made their way to the door without incident, then opened them and slipped through into the entrance chamber. Their actions caught the interest of a few people, but they were mostly ignored until the sound of the door being locked reverberated around the cavern. Every ear was alerted that something was not quite going the way it was supposed to.

The exit was a simple pool of water that hid a tunnel. It was only large enough to fit one person at a time, so they had to go single-file. The man lowered his hood again. "Okay, I'm gonna go first. Miltia, hold onto my ankles. Melanie, hold on to your sister's ankles. I'll pull you both through faster than you could on your own."

They nodded in agreement, so he jumped in. He dived down into the tunnel, and Miltia followed quickly. It was a long swim and there would be no place to catch a breath, so they had to hurry. Watching her sister disappear under the water, Melanie jumped in. She heard the pounding on the door behind her just as she dived down and grabbed hold of her sister.

Age had been catching up with the man recently, but he was still perfectly capable. He pulled the three of them through the water faster than either of the girls could have gone. It was only a matter of seconds before they had reached the other end of the tunnel, but he found himself faced with an obstacle. The hatch had been smashed in and was now wedged into the tunnel, blocking any escape.

Wasting no time, he pulled his weapon out from under his cloak and aimed it at the obstruction. He fired, but the high caliber bullet shredded before it reached its target. Moving quickly, aware that he didn't have much time left, he extended his weapon's blade and sliced through the metal plating with ease. He then pushed it out of the tunnel ahead of him and climbed out, his weapon still in his hand. Behind him, the twins also crawled into the flooded subway station. They kept their grip on each other and on him, so he kept swimming.

Miltia's hand, having been wrapped around the end of his robes, disappeared. He found himself worrying about her, so he turned around and swam back to where she had been. He found one of the girls, though he couldn't tell which it was. Whichever she was, the other one was missing. They couldn't see far in the stormy water, but he could tell that the girl's sister was nowhere nearby. He had no choice. He grabbed her and pulled her towards the surface.

They broke the surface on the streets above and gasped for air. She was already screaming at him in tones of rage and anguish. "You bastard! How could you leave her like that? We have to go back, dammit! We have to find her!"

He caught her just before she dived back into the water. "No! It's too late! There's nothing you can do for her now! We need to get out of here!"

She struggled against him, reaching out for her lost sister. "Melanie! Melanie! No!"


End file.
